I’ve already had some evangelists tell me that Apple’s new operating system, OS X, will be the jewel that restores Apple’s market position and credibility. (It will be sold at retail starting next week, and shipped with new systems starting this summer. A network server version will follow eventually.) Apple zealots are a special breed. Those of you that live in the real world should mull over the future of a company whose new flagship operating system has no support whatsoever for CD recorders. Let me repeat: you cannot record CDs if you use OS X. Here’s another: OS X cannot play DVDs. Read this article and imagine what it would be like to use a computer that required you to shut down and start up an older operating system to use many applications. Here’s a more extensive article on the troubled seven-year development of OS X with more details on its shortcomings. Ignore the cultists, don’t be tempted if the press coverage next week tries to make the new user interface sound interesting. It’s not. Apple is truly irrelevant.
